by Alan Gomez, USA TODAY

by Alan Gomez, USA TODAY

Since coming to the U.S. and overstaying their tourist visas 12 years ago, Genoveva Ramirez Lagunas told her two children the same thing countless illegal immigrants have told their children: Don't tell anyone about your status.

On Sunday, Lagunas found herself standing in front of a microphone in Chicago's Federal Plaza to tell a crowd of 300 people her story: She explained how she was arrested last month after she was pulled over and the officer realized she didn't have legal ID. How she spent two weeks in federal immigration detention. And how she was released with a one-year deportation reprieve - but still faces the possibility of being deported after it expires.

"I was scared," Lagunas, 63, who cleans office buildings near Chicago, said of her decision to speak out. "I was thinking, 'What if they detain me again?' At first, I was nervous. But it was important to talk about what happened to me so people can understand how we live."

For the past few years, illegal immigrants brought to the country as children - known as DREAMers after a Congressional bill that would give them legal status - have been publicly declaring their illegal status in speeches, rallies and even the halls of Congress.

They did so partly to bring attention to their individual cases, hoping that the publicity would help deter Department of Homeland Security officials from deporting them. They also used their personal tales to try to persuade members of Congress to support the DREAM Act, which would legalize an estimated 1.8 million illegal immigrants.

Marisa Franco, a campaign organizer for the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, a group that has helped many people "come out" as illegal immigrants, said those efforts led the Obama administration to implement a program that has granted deportation reprieves to nearly 200,000 DREAMers in the past six months.

Now, it's their parents' turn. As officials in the White House and Congress negotiate an immigration overhaul that could grant a pathway to citizenship for the nation's 11 million illegal immigrants, more adults have begun to speak up.

Some have spoken at rallies and demonstrations around the country. On Wednesday, several spoke during a congressional hearing before visiting the offices of senators who are working on an immigration bill.

"We're at the point where that first group of adults is setting an important precedent, and we're going to reach a tipping point where it could multiply," Franco said.

Steven Camarota, director of research at the Center for Immigration Studies, a group that opposes a pathway to citizenship for the nation's illegal immigrants, said the young illegal immigrants had a very sympathetic story that few could argue against. Because the young immigrants were brought to the country as children, he said, it's hard to blame them for their situation.

But Camarota said their parents run the risk of upsetting many Americans.

"The people who came at a young age have a much stronger case because they can say it wasn't their fault," he said. "People who came as adults can't say that. What they're saying now is 'I knowingly, willingly violated the law, but I still deserve citizenship.' That's a very hard argument to make."

He said the strategy of publicizing their case to avoid deportation could also backfire.

"It's one thing to cheat on your taxes and keep a low profile," Camarota said. "It's another to stand on the soap box and say 'I cheated on my taxes and I don't care.' "

Barbara Gonzalez, Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman, said publicity on a case does not factor in to their decision to pursue deportation proceedings against any illegal immigrants.

"ICE is focused on smart and effective immigration enforcement that prioritizes the removal of convicted criminal aliens, recent border-crossers and repeat immigration-law violators," she said. "ICE exercises prosecutorial discretion on a case-by-case basis, based on the merits of an individual case."

For Lagunas' family, the willingness to speak is spreading. Her daughter, Fernanda Castellanos, said she saw how nervous her mother was before giving Sunday's speech.

"She lost her voice when she started talking," said Castellanos, 25, who also cleans office buildings near Chicago.

But now, Castellanos feels emboldened to also tell her story and hopes that others follow suit.

"We feel better now that we don't have to hide our status," she said. "We were always told 'Never talk about your immigration status, because you never know.' But now, I feel relieved. Once you share your story, it inspires others. And I feel inspired to do it too."